New Beginning (Tracy Chapman album)

New Beginning is the fourth album by singer/songwriter Tracy Chapman, released in 1995 (see 1995 in music). According to Nielsen Soundscan, it is her biggest-selling recording since 1991, with 3.8 million copies sold, and according to the RIAA, it has shipped five million copies in the United States.

Contents

• Smoke and ashes by tracy chapman
• Track listing
• Personnel
• Production
• Charts
• Awards
• Songs
• References

The album's sound consists of Chapman's trademark acoustic rock / folk sound and is mainly made up of slow, low-key tunes and a few upbeat tracks. One notable exception is the hit "Give Me One Reason", which is a blues piece. Most tracks on the album have backup singers, which was very rare in Chapman's earlier works.

The album is notable for the impressive lengths of its songs. Aside from the single "Give Me One Reason", all songs are at least 4:56. The song "Unsung Psalm" was originally written and recorded for this album, but didn't make it. It was later on her 2000 album Telling Stories as the sixth track out of eleven.

According to Billboard Magazine, the "New Beginning" single was the first multi-session disc to have a sticker printed on the back of the packaging detailing system requirements to play the multi-media footage.